Utilización de licopeno de tomate (Solanum lycopersicum) como colorante en productos cárnicos.

Abstract

The present study proposed the use of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) lycopene as a dye in meat products. The compilation of several studies published in representative journals and digital repositories in Spanish or English was carried out. They were: Scielo, Meat Science, PubMed, E-libro, DSpace ESPOCH, and in international institutions of countries such as: University of Hidalgo (Mexico), University of Costa Rica (Costa Rica), National University of Chonnam (Korea) Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Spain), Complutense University (Spain). It was taken into account that the information must come from reliable and current sources, 80% from the year 2010 to the present, and the other 20% from years ranging from 1995 to 2010. The technique of "Collection and selection of information" was used with a selection criterion, discriminating information that does not contribute to the work and synthesizing the valid information in Excel and Word format tables for better discernment. The results obtained showed that the addition of lycopene to meat products improves sensory characteristics, especially those related to color, due to the antioxidant and coloring activity of lycopene together with vitamin E or tocopherol which inhibits the oxidation of myoglobin protecting it from the appearance of free radicals and thus giving the meat product a greater reddening. It is concluded that the color in the preparation of meat products is improved by adding between 4% and 10% lycopene as an effect of increasing reddening in mortadella, Frankfurter sausage, chorizo and ham which makes them more visually attractive to the consumer, and therefore its adequate use of 4% is recommended because it decreases lipid oxidation, prevents the appearance of strange flavors and odors, increases reddening and lengthens the shelf life of the product.